The University of North Carolina at Charlotte was established in 1965 by the North Carolina General Assembly which transformed Charlotte College, with beginnings in 1946, into a campus of The University of North Carolina. It is organized into the following seven colleges: College of Arts & Architecture, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Engineering, College of Health and Human Services, and the College of Computing and Informatics. It offers a broad array of degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels and also in graduate certificate programs Enrollment is approximately 25,000 with 19 % of the students pursuing graduate degrees. The university is expected to reach enrollment of thirty thousand students by the year 2020. 2) INVITATION UNC Charlotte intends to consolidate its partnerships with marketing, design, communications, and production contractors into a more unified, manageable, and centrally directed set of relationships. Combining these activities into a single program will allow for the reduction of service costs and also improve the strategic focus for University communications. UNC Charlotte has organized its communications needs into four basic categories and plans to select a limited number of contractors through this solicitation who will produce the end products for any Colleges, Units or Groups on campus who require these services. The categories that will be addressed are Graphic Design, Web Design, Media Production, and Public Relations. All projects will be coordinated through collaboration among the respective campus client, the contractor and the University Communications department. Face to face interaction on campus between the contractors and the respective project coordinators is an integral part of all work so preference will be given to contractors based in the greater Charlotte, NC area to facilitate ease of scheduling meetings. It is anticipated that there will be contracts awarded in each of the four categories to multiple contractors who specialize in those particular disciplines. Contractors who submit proposals in response to this solicitation do not need to be proficient in each of the four categories and are able to submit proposals specifically for the area(s) in which they possess expertise. Proposals must be clearly organized and identify to which categories the contractor is responding. UNC Charlotte reserves the right to make contract awards in whole or in part and will select contractors in the manner that is in the best interests of the University and results in the most efficient expenditure of North Carolina state funds. 5 The initial term of the contracts that result from this solicitation will be two (2) years with the option for three (3) additional renewal terms of one (1) year each. Renewal of each contract resulting from this solicitation will be at the sole discretion of UNC Charlotte. Contracts resulting from this solicitation will be convenience contracts for the campus community and projects will arise strictly on an as-needed basis. UNC Charlotte makes no guarantees as to the minimum number of projects that will take place or any minimum level of spend under the contracts
